A few years ago I saw a parody-commerical on Saturday Night Live about a sugar-based toothpaste, “Yum, That Was Good!” All the actors were portrayed with horribly bad teeth. And I remember in George Orwell’s famous essay, “The Lion and the Unicorn,” he repeated (without commenting on) the widespread stereotype that “Englishmen have bad teeth.” Where did this come from? It’s not something I’ve ever noticed in Britishers I’ve met, or seen on TV or in the movies. Do Britishers really have bad teeth, compared to Americans or to continental Europeans? If so, why?
i saw someting on tv the other day saying that the brits don’t use flouride or chloride (or something) in their water, so that could be it.
Does their social medicine include dental plans? I did not particularly notice bad teeth when there. No more than the U.S. A good question, but likely just a fun steriotype.
Yes, bad meaning CROOKED. Check out the Beatles-all needed braces-only got them, if at all, as adults. Orthodontics are not covered by Health system. Only the poorest Americans do not get braces, if needed. Yeah, I know braces mean suspenders in UK. Oh, that’s it. Kids w/ crooked teeth ask for braces, & dentist fits them for suspenders.
It’s just different standards, I think. My teeth are bad by American standards (slightly asymmetric), but my Japanese dentists never said anything about it. My parents would have been able to afford orthodontics, but nobody around me thought I needed it.
By the way, fluoride doesn’t prevent bad (crooked/irregular) teeth, does it?
not as bad as african teeth.
Fluoride helps strengthen the enamel to reduce cavities, but crookedness is a whole different thing. However, if you lose too many teeth, especially while the permanent ones are not in yet, the remaining ones could become crooked.
I asked my (US) dentist the same question and he replied that yes, their teeth were often bad and attributed it to genetics. He also mentioned that Mexicans usually had strong straight teeth and as most that he sees are relative newcomers, it must be their genetics as well, certainly not from a well-balanced diet and good dental care before they crossed the border.
I worked in East Anglia for a year and noticed that most of my co-workers had crooked or slightly-crooked teeth, poorly fitted crowns, caps that didn’t match the color of the rest of their teeth, caps and crowns that were shorter/longer than they should have been. I don’t think that cosmetic dentistry traveled well to that part of the country.
They were less apt to get regular checkups and their dental experiences usually involved emergencies which, unfortunately, weren’t conducive to voluntary checkups.
Some UK areas have fluoridated water, others do not. At school we had to do a project on this (science ethics or something) - we had data tables showing caries (tooth decay) rates in fluoridated areas compared with non fluoridated and the difference was just SHOCKING. Yet many people still object because of wanting the choice.
I no longer agree with that, because IMO those objecting are usually mid-higher incomes, who feed their kids healthier diets/less sweet junk, are more aware of caries so would better monitor their kids’ oral hygiene, etc. Plus, they can afford private dental treatment if they do get decay problems and aren’t on the NHS. I think fluoride should be there as a safety net so kids that aren’t taught great hygiene, or whose parents don’t bother with it, at least get some protection. But this is GD territory.
Generally, our dental health system is now excellent, with free dental care for young people up to sixteen, young people in education up to 21, pregnant women, and possibly the elderly.
In past times, dental care wasn’t so available, so many people could never afford to get their teeth fixed.
Braces are called “braces” in the UK - at least when I was growing up. And at least when I was growing up, orthodontics WERE covered by the NHS (National Health System).
Perhaps the difference in the UK is that there is a lot less cosmetic dentistry for the ordinary person. Ie: when UK actors go to Hollywood, they always seem to end up having to get all their teeth capped. In the UK, a more natural look is acceptable, even if the teeth aren’t 100% straight or all brilliant white.
In times past, many more people used to get false teeth, AFAIK because it was cheaper for the NHS to provide one lifetime set of falsies than do repeated crown, filling, root canal and bridge work on those with poorer teeth.
Aren’t braces also suspenders? Or does suspender mean garter in UK?
Suspenders are also the things that hold your trousers (pants) up by means of material going up over your shoulders.
BTW, regardign the OP. “The British”, yes. “Brits”, yes. “Britishers”? Err … no.
Well, what do you call the people of the United Kingdom? There should be some kind of single proper noun, other than “the British,” that I can fit into the sentence, “Do ----- have bad teeth?” Shouldn’t there? Something analogous to the single word, “Americans”? “Do British have bad teeth?” just sounds wrong. I can’t say “Englishmen” – that slights the Welsh, Scots and Ulstermen, and is sexist besides. (Don’t even suggest “Englishpersons”!) “Britons” sounds too stilted, and might be confused with “Bretons.” What’s wrong with “Britishers”?
What’s wrong with “Britishers”? The -er ending means ‘one who’. You are saying either ‘One who Britishes’, which is meaningless, or ‘one who hails from British’, which is equally meaningless. ‘Englander’ is about the closest potential match, and far more stilted and archaic than Briton. Britainner is unaccepatble because ‘Briton’ is the correct form, if for no other reason.
Brits works for me.
The CIA World Factbook goes with Britons. I’m not sure what you find so stilted about it.
I’d put money on most people having never heard of “Bretons”, but being able to at least guess what a “Briton” is.
Brits, Britons, or British people.
Elastic things holding stockings up = suspenders
Elastic straps holding trousers up = braces
Metal tracks over teeth = braces
I am just imagining a British wife’s horror when her foreign husband asks for new “suspenders”!! 
I’ll just pitch in that, yes, you can get orthodontic work on the NHS. When I was at school I had a removable brace - which, sadly, I hardly ever wore, cos it was uncomfortable and gave me a lisp. Of course I now regret this, as it would cost me a fortune to get my teeth straightened now.
So yes, my teeth would probably be considered bad (ie crooked) by US standards, even though they’re strong and healthy (no fillings). The same goes for a lot of Britons (yes, that’s what they’re called).
As has been correctly identified, the “badness” of the teeth is their cosmetic appearance: often crooked and not whitened.
I got orthodontic treatment on the NHS in the 1980s, but I was unusual - only about 30 or 40 other people in my school had a brace (it was a school of 2,000 pupils).
I seem to recall people used say “a brace” rather than “braces”, to avoid confusion. Or they’d say “train-tracks”.
Er… Assuming you can find a dentist who hasn’t ‘opted out’ of the national health system and still has room on his books. I don’t know about the situation in the rest of the country, but (around 1994) when I was in my home town of Cambridge, signing on (receiving unemployment benefit) and suffering from toothache, I was amazed to be informed that the whole lot had stopped taking on NHS work en masse, claiming that they didn’t make enough money. Of course, the concept of “not enough money” is relative. A few years previously I had been to a dentist, on the NHS, who had a newish looking Jaguar and a volvo parked in the drive of his brand new surgery.
Eventually, I found out that only two dentists still took on NHS work, one of whom was solidly booked for months in advance, while the other was (even by English standards) a very bad dentist, as my scarred gums will testify.
To any Brits who can’t afford dental treatment in the UK and can’t get it on the NHS to come over here to Hungary, where the dentists are superb and - by British standards - cheap.
Sorry, that last sentence should have read:
I would recommend to any Brits who can’t afford dental treatment in the UK and can’t get it free on the NHS to come over here to Hungary, where the dentists are superb and - by British standards - cheap.
I think there is mostly a cultural difference - Americans believe it is normal and proper to spend thousands and thousands of dollars to get perfectly straight teeth. Many British people would not even consider it - after all, it is only a form of cosmetic surgery. Put me in that camp. My teeth are straight but with an overbite. It quite literally never crossed my mind to do anything about it. And I will not do anything about it - it causes me no problems whatsoever, so why should I spend thousands on “fixing” it?
In the US it seems less optional because “everybody” does it. The mindset of a parent is “my child has crooked teeth and therefore needs orthodontics”. It is not an option. I will probably take the same approach with my kids - in a country of straight teeth, they will feel embarrassed if their’s are not. Peer pressure is a powerful thing.
Plus people in the US have more money on average, so can more easily afford cosmetic surgery.